


The One Where the Avengers Hang Out In A Tree

by TariCalmcacil



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, PWP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-07
Updated: 2012-06-07
Packaged: 2017-11-07 03:16:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/426343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TariCalmcacil/pseuds/TariCalmcacil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint was just being Clint, and somehow the entire team wound up in a tree.</p><p>This pretty much has no redeemable plot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One Where the Avengers Hang Out In A Tree

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ladydragon543](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladydragon543/gifts).



It all started with Clint climbing the willow in the back corner of the garden. There wasn’t any particular reason for it, mostly he was just trying to find the best vantage points in the mansion’s yard out of boredom. He had already scaled the maples out front by the gate and the oak in the garden nearer the house, leaving the willows that scattered around the goldfish pond, which held no fish.

Natasha was the first to notice, and shrugged it off. She had known him long enough to recognize what he was doing, had seen him do the same with the ventilation systems on the helicarrier and that air ducts in SHIELD’s various regional headquarters.

“Found any good sniping spots?” She asked, jumping to catch the lowest bough and gymnasticking her way into the tree.

“A few. This tree is really too short though.”

“Good for pouncing on passerby though.” Natasha commented. She wound her way to the other side of the trunk and up a few more feet. She tested a thicker branch that was nearly level with Clint’s current one.

“Actually, this branch would be perfect for getting the drop on someone outside the wall.”

“Who’s outside the wall?”

Clint maneuvered his bow, testing the angle of the shot as Steve stepped up to the willow’s trunk. It would do in pinch.

“No one. It’s hypothetical.”

“Ah, it’s a tactical survey then.” the Captain nodded. “May I?”

Without waiting for a response, he boosted himself into the foliage. He climbed up to Natasha’s branch.

“The commandos and I used to do this when we were intercepting German units.” He sounded wistful. “It was actually quite the competition, since it was usually pines with no branches less than ten feet off the ground.”

They sat in quiet for a while, Clint and Natasha occasionally shifting to check a different branch, a different angle, Steve lost in thought. Until Tony showed up.

“Cap? You under here? Jarvis mentioned seeing everyone disappear - oh, hey!”

The engineer raised his eyebrows at the three Avengers sitting above him, seemingly thrown off. “I was gonna tell you the new communicators are ready...” he stroked his goatee, and his teammates could see Tony’s mind shifting gears. “Whatcha all doing?”

“Spy stuff. Super secret.” Clint called down.

Tony was undeterred and climbed surprisingly quickly into the foliage, moving easily around the trunk until he rested on a branch higher than the others.

“You know, I climbed this tree all the time when I was a kid. It was... shorter. Branches are the same though!” He pointed to an odd notch in the bark. “This is where I tried to build a fort. When dad found out, he... he wasn’t happy.”

The other Avengers read the shift in Tony’s mood and the frown on his face, and politely remained quiet, allowing him to brood in peace as he stared up into the foliage, his back to the trunk. They even managed to signal to Thor and Bruce to be quiet when they appeared, and ever curious, the god clambered up to sit beneath Clint, Bruce electing to remain at the foot of the tree. It was a almost a full ten minutes before Thor grew tired of the silence.

“I do not understand the purpose of sitting in this tree.”

Clint sighed, Steve chuckled, and Natasha buried her face in her palm.

“Just go with it, Thor.” Steve suggested.

Tony on the other hand, was staring down at the god in disbelief, distracted from his own recollections of a less than ideal childhood.

“Come on, you mean you never had a tree fort as a kid? What do you do growing up on Asgard? Every little kid wants a tree fort to hang in. It’s like a law. Back me up guys.”

Thor looked at him blankly, and the others just shrugged, all avoiding his gaze.

“Actually Tony, I grew up in the city. We didn’t have trees for forts. We didn’t really have trees.”

Tony shook his head in disgust.

“What about you three. You didn’t grow up in cities.”

“No tree forts when you’re in training to be a spy.”

“High wire is way cooler than a tree fort.”

Tony scoffed.

“Well clearly you’ve never been in one built by me. What about you Bruce?”

“I, um...I don’t really care for heights.”

“You don’t... oy. Okay, that’s it, I’m building a tree fort. I’ll even put in a ladder and guard rail for Bruce. And none of you are going to stop me, right?”

Taken aback by the almost threatening undertones in Tony’s voice, the rest of the group just shook their heads. He took that as their acceptance, and was suddenly in motion, moving from branch to branch, muttering to himself as he went. Occasionally, he would balance without hands, leaning back or sideways and using them to create a right angle. If the others positioned themselves in a diamond on the lower branches in case he needed to be caught, he pretended not to notice.

By the time the phone came out, designs being entered in the screen (jokingly titled ‘the Fort of Yggdrasil’ at Thor’s suggestion), he had been at it for nearly an hour, and the rest of the team had started making suggestions as well. Even Bruce had gotten involved, suggesting a movie night to christen the planned fort, allowing himself to dragged up to the lowest branch when he did so.

Months later, it quickly became a rule in SHIELD that you did not make fun of the painting that hung over the mantle of the mansion’s main fireplace. Mockery of the Avenger’s favorite location for team nights was a good way to become victim to team pranks (which were ironically often planned on team nights). Done by Steve from a picture taken by Fury when he entered the mansion and couldn’t find the Avengers, the painting depicted the entire team lying on couches and chairs, in pajamas and curled in blankets, watching the Sandlot the night after the tree fort was completed. Originally intended as blackmail, Fury had reluctantly admitted it was kind of useless when the fort included a 70 inch LCD, leather furniture and carpeted floors. In fact, the only thing blackmailable about it was that Fury kept the original picture in his desk.

Not that anyone needed to ever know.


End file.
